


touch the sky

by zxrycyan



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Anxious Hunk (Voltron), Boys In Love, Character Development, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Insecure Lance (Voltron), Keith (Voltron) is Bad at Feelings, M/M, Pining, Team as Family, but also very much a love story, castle-ship adventures, everybody gets their time to shine, kinda a character study, random planet adventures, so is lance, some cussing, world-building
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-27
Updated: 2020-05-27
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:01:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24398452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zxrycyan/pseuds/zxrycyan
Summary: A few facts about Team Voltron that they slowly discover about themselves and each other:1) Keith's subconscious is annoyingly sappy.2) Lance somehow manages to be completely oblivious yet astoundingly not all at once.3) Pidge is Not Good with people but she's trying, really she is. (So what if she secretly thinks of people as flesh machines? Don't knock what works, right?)4) Hunk is actually the bravest of the paladins, because he's the only one with working self-preservation instincts.5) Shiro is done with everyone calling him Space Dad. He's not that old. He's not.6) Allura feels like she's constantly doing damage control,7) and Coran just loves everybody.--Lance stops suddenly, both in his constant babble and in walking. "We just had a bonding moment!" He says in sudden realisation, mouth open in shock, "A bondinghour!""What? Nope, don't remember. Didn't happen.""Itliterally just happened!"Keith cackles.
Relationships: Hunk & Lance (Voltron), Keith/Lance (Voltron), Team Voltron - Friendship, because everybody gets friendship time
Comments: 3
Kudos: 39





	touch the sky

**Author's Note:**

> did I just write 1000 words of Keith thinking Lance looks good? why yes. yes i did  
> also, i've watched up till season 7 and i will probably keep to canon's major plot points (except for... the obvious), so i kinda imagine this story to be additional character-development/world-building that maybe goes on behind the scenes? because voltron is a cartoon and cartoons lack that stuff. everybody is gonna get super deep! i'm probably also gonna mess around with quintessence and destiny and make up fun planets, because why not? hehe  
> this story is super incomplete, but i love it too much and i had to share.  
> hope you guys enjoy!! :)

It starts like this:

They're on Erekal, a planet recently liberated from the Galra forces with Voltron aid, and they'd been invited to stay for as long as they'd like. They can't actually stay long, obviously, because there's still a lot of Galra ass in the universe to kick, but they're thankful for a place to rest up after the latest battle.

Two days after the Galra are defeated, the Erekans hold a huge celebratory feast, with Team Voltron as the guests of honour. On their part, all seven of them get dressed up in traditional Erekan ceremonial garb as a mark of respect. After all, if there's one thing Keith can say about this society, it's that they bounce back fast. Large-scale rebuilding efforts are already in the works, though all that gets put on pause when the sun begins dipping below the horizon and the citizens gather for the feast.

No matter what Lance says, this parade isn't for them -- okay, the leader did say it's for them, but the truth is it's as much for the Erekans themselves as it is for their saviours. After centuries of Galran rule, they deserve a night of celebration. And oh, do they know it.

Massive plates of food are laid out, fairy lights (well, the alien equivalent) are strewn all around the buildings, odd Erekan trees, and even floating in the air, and energetic music blasts from invisible speakers. All around, aliens are laughing, dancing, and eating, most of them still dressed simply in plain, efficient work garments but effervescent in their joy. Only those in the local governing body in charge of welcoming their off-planet guests are dressed to the nines, and normally, Keith couldn't care less about alien planet fashion or fashion in general, but...

But.

For the sake of all things holy, unholy, and in between, _they have no fucking right to make Lance McClain look so good_.

As has been common so far, all the paladins have been given costumes in their colour, and Erekal's tend towards the pastel. Keith personally thinks he looks like shit in pink. He feels uncomfortably exposed and garish in light colours, and there are far too many ties and tassels everywhere - some completely unreachable at his back - so he'd had to ask Coran for help putting on _clothes_ , so all in all he's not in the best of moods when it comes time for the team to gather and he has to emerge from his room.

Except then Lance comes out of his just as Keith's walking past, and Keith officially goes crazy. The moment his gaze lands on the other boy, a hot wave of shock lightning bolts through Keith's entire body, from the top of his spine to his damn toes.

For a split second, his mind completely blanks at the smooth dip of a skinny waist, shown off by a golden cord wrapped around as a belt. His eyes are then immediately drawn to the tapering vee of the ceremonial robe's front, which reveals just the right amount of tan skin -- skin that contrasts beautifully with the pale blue of the silky cloth. Without any conscious thought, Keith takes in the intricate patterns curling around the paladin's torso, the ties around his wrists, the two lines parallel to the collar that only highlight the vee of his chest and the strength in his shoulders, the threads all dyed a deep shade of midnight blue that glistens where it reflects the light and fades into black in the shadows. The tassels hanging off the buttons and at the bottom of the tunic even make him look regal. Regal, instead of ridiculous, and that's ridiculous! Because Keith had struggled with those tassels and tiny buttons, and he'd already deemed them absolutely ridiculous.

This all happens in less than a tick before Keith successfully brings his gaze to the other boy's face, but he's left breathless and reeling by the sudden vibrance of his eyes. Is it just his imagination, or are there flecks of darker colour hidden in the sea of pale blue? Why can't Keith breathe? There's no other explanation for this: he must have hit his head too hard in the battle and knocked a few screws loose.

"Watcha lookin' at," Lance speaks up, scowling and crossing his arms across his chest. All that does is bring Keith's attention to the muscle he'd been gaining in his triceps and how bony his wrists are -- the sleeves are slightly loose and billowy, but the carefully knotted string at the ends wrap the garment around his narrow wrists and leave plenty of loose thread hanging. Keith could circle his wrists with a thumb and forefinger. Keith wants to-

He's going insane.

"This doesn't make sense," he mutters to himself. How can a simple change in clothing make such a big difference? Where Lance's armour and preferred jacket and jeans makes him look gangly and his hips kind of non-existent, this costume somehow flatters his lanky frame; makes him look tall, broad in the shoulders and delicate around the waist. It's- it's blatantly _unfair_. It's nonsensical. What.

Lance leans forward, still frowning. "What? What did ya say? Do I have something on my face or what?"

 _Deflect. Deflect. Deflect!_ The alarms blare in Keith's brain.

"Yes," he retorts, "It's your whole face. It's ugly."

It's barely a coherent rejoinder, but it successfully gets an outraged squawk out of the blue paladin. Which is good enough, because Keith's brain is still 80% offline from the shock of finding the other boy _hot_. He's unused to the feeling in general, because he's never let himself pay enough attention to people as people to think them attractive, but why Lance? Why the guy who's always riling him up and getting under his skin and arguing with him? Why his teammate, whom he _has to face almost every hour of every day?_

The universe hates him.

"You're ugly!" Lance is saying when Pidge deigns to exit her room, tapping away on a holoscreen projecting out of her wristband.

"And you're both idiots," Pidge cuts in smoothly, "Who are going to be late and incur Shiro's Dad Face if you don't hurry up."

This shuts Lance up, or maybe it's the fact that Keith hasn't said anything in return. Either way, the Cuban boy turns away with a huff and stomps after Pidge, and Keith contemplates allowing him to have the last word.

Nope, not happening.

"Yeah, well, you're dumb," Keith grumbles at Lance under his breath, but apparently loud enough to set the other boy off again. The flush it brings to his cheeks is... nice.

Keith's eyes widen and he snaps his head to the side as soon as he realises he's thought that, resolutely not looking at Lance. Lance is dumb. Dumb and ugly and quite awfully, stupidly beautiful, actually.

Holy shit, Keith is really going crazy.

* * *

Actually, that's not how it starts. No, it's how the attraction starts, but everything deeper... Well, that had started much earlier.

About a week or two into their stay at the castle, Keith is sitting on a window seat far away from the common areas most of the team spends their time in, staring out at space and thinking about - well, a lot of things - when a shout of surprise startles him out of his thoughts. He narrowly avoids hitting his head on the window as he turns around to face the voice.

"Hunk! Hunk, look! A space slide!" The first voice, which Keith identifies as Lance's, drifts out of an open door somewhere down the hallway.

Hunk comes skidding from around the corner. "Whoaaaaa, a _space_ slide?! How big is it? Does it float? Is it-" He cuts himself off, having spotted Keith sitting at the end of the corridor. "Oh, hey Keith!"

"What? The asshole is here?!" Keith's eye twitches as Lance's head pokes out of one of the rooms nearest to the corner and glares at him. He glares right back. "Where'd you pop up from?"

"I've been here the whole time, jerk!" The red paladin shouts, "You're the idiot with zero situational awareness who didn't see me!"

"Only 'cause you're skulking in the shadows, all suspicious-like!" Lance is quick to return with.

Keith feels like he's about to explode. "I was not _skulking_ , I was just sitting here, minding my own goddamn business, which _somebody_ is apparently too stupid to do!" He wants to throw something. Shiro won't be too mad if he throws his sword at Lance's face, will he? He absolutely will. Maybe just the untransformed bayard, then?

"I'm not stupid!" Lance yells, outraged, "You're stupid!"

Keith has no words. "Ugh!" Throwing up his hands, he jumps off the ledge and stomps off down the hallway leading away from the one Lance and Hunk are on. He hadn't been spoiling for a fight, but now he is. He really doesn't understand what about him pisses the other boy off so much, but he knows it's really pissing _him_ off.

(When Keith's heavy footsteps mostly fade away, Lance turns to face Hunk's decidedly judgy expression.

"What's his problem?" He grumbles.

"Uh..." Hunk starts.

Lance blinks, then groans. That's Hunk's there's-something-I-want-to-say-but-I'm-kinda-too-nice-to-say-it-but-I-want-to-say-it-because-I'm-too-nice face.

"Maybe that you called him asshole before he even did anything?" Hunk offers, wincing.

Lance makes a betrayed noise. "Because he is! And he did a lot of things!"

Hunk winces even more. "I know, I know, but I mean... in that particular situation just now? He was just sitting there, looking kinda surprised when I saw him. Think maybe we stumbled across his spot or something."

"Nooo..." Lance groans, collapsing dramatically against Hunk's shoulder. "Don't do that. Don't make me feel bad! Keith doesn't do "just surprised", he must have felt caught out plotting something super sly and tricky and evil!"

Hunk laughs. "Nope, didn't see that."

"Huuuunk," Lance whines.

"Space slide?" Hunk suggests instead, making Lance perk up.

"Hell yeah!" He cheers.

The slide is big. And it floats. It's totally magic, because it cushions them gently when they go flying off the bottom. It's amazing.)

The next day, Lance follows Keith out after dinner, making some excuse like "getting his chill on" or something. Keith's on the defensive, because the other boy is absolutely following him -- he's heading towards the training deck, and Lance's room is in a different direction.

After a tense minute, Keith stops and whirls around to face him. "What," he bites out.

For a second, Lance's face twists into equally defensive and angry lines, before it melts into something almost... hangdog. What?

He mumbles something too soft for Keith to hear, head turned away. "What," he repeats, slightly less aggressive but more suspicious this time.

Lance huffs loudly and straightens, as though he's not the one who started this whole thing in the first place. "I said, I'm sorry, alright? For yesterday."

Keith feels his eyes go wide, stunned. An apology? He had been expecting pretty much the opposite of that. What does he do with an apology?

He must remain quiet for too long, because Lance's shoulders slump again. "Nevermind, forget it."

He turns to go, and Keith blurts, "Wait! I- I accept. Your apology."

Oh God, it's so awkward. Everything is so awkward. This is why Keith hates people. He's going to go hide and destroy things in the training deck now.

Lance turns back. "We're good?" He asks carefully, to which Keith nods. He's not enough of an asshole to reject a sincere apology, for fuck's sake.

The blue paladin nods back. Then he nods again, more determinedly this time, like he's making up his mind about something. "Wanna go explore the castle? Hunk and I found some super cool rooms yesterday, but he said he's too tired from training today but he's really just scared 'cause of that weird sentient ball pit we found that I wanna go jump in again and Pidge is like, super absorbed in all the new shiny tech she just got her hands on-"

Keith did not know before this very moment that a human being could string so many words together in one breath. "Fine," he cuts in before Lance can collapse from oxygen deprivation. The other boy looks surprised, and even Keith feels surprised at his own acceptance. But he likes exploring, and, well, "Sentient ball pit."

Lance's face breaks into a smile -- not his largest smile by far, but a rare one actually directed at Keith. Keith nearly stumbles back in surprise. "Yeah, it's totally awesome! C'mon, I'll show you."

They set off with Lance leading the way and talking enough to make up both sides of the conversation, and Keith thinks maybe he should be insulted that he's only getting dragged along because Lance's actual friends don't want to go with him, but he's kind of... relieved, instead. They're not exactly friends yet, and it would have been weird if Lance _hadn't_ made up a ton of excuses to justify them spending time together. This way is better. They're not friends, but maybe they can be teammates, at least.

About half an hour later, it becomes clear to Keith. "You're lost," he accuses.

"No I'm not, I'm just taking a detour! Because we're exploring! There's lots of rooms on the castle we haven't seen yet, and it's not my fault most of the corridors look the same."

"So we're lost," Keith concludes.

"You don't have to be an asshole about it," Lance groans. Keith frowns, because he hadn't actually been trying to be an asshole. "We'll find it eventually, and until then... look! Space pool table!"

"You can't just describe everything by adding 'space' in front of it," Keith protests, but he follows the taller boy into the room and picks up what does, indeed, look very much like a space pool cue.

"But it's true, isn't it? Can't deny it!"

Keith raises a challenging eyebrow, extending another cue towards the other boy, who'd just emerged from under the table triumphantly with a set of pool balls. "Ready to get your ass handed to you?"

Lance grins, setting down the balls and accepting the cue. "Watch it, _you're_ the one who's gonna get an epic beatdown. I rock at pool!"

"But this is space pool," Keith points out as innocently as possible.

Predictably, the other boy gapes. "You just said-!"

Keith can't help it -- he smirks, trying to hide it by turning away to look for chalk.

"Oh my God..." Lance complains, "Asshole."

And Keith returns, smirking openly at him now, "Loser."

"We'll see," Lance pronounces darkly.

Maybe it's just him, but thereafter, the names Lance likes to throw at him stop sounding quite as insulting. Oh, it still pisses Keith off, but not nearly as much, and it doesn't confuse him like it did before. He figures it's just the way things are. Lance flirts with every female-resembling being of the appropriate age they encounter, and calls Keith an asshole. Keith gets annoyed, they yell, and then they stop when they have stuff to fight that's not each other. 

It's just the way things are.

(Also, Lance actually wins. Keith had never really played pool before, so he decides that's okay. He's gonna win eventually, though. He swears that.

On their way back to the living quarters that night, Lance stops suddenly, both in his constant babble and in walking. "We just had a bonding moment!" He says in sudden realisation, mouth open in shock, "A bonding _hour!"_

"What? Nope, don't remember. Didn't happen."

"It _literally just happened!"_

Keith cackles.)

**Author's Note:**

> sorry the timeline's gonna be messy because i have no idea what the timeline actually is. does anybody know what the timeline actually is? also you can't tell me the castle-ship isn't full of cool hidden shit, and that keith and lance wouldn't explore it. there is no way!!


End file.
